Potato harvester



Dec 26, 1922. 1,4140%232 R. W. MUIR.

POTATO HARVESTER.

EILED APR. 7. 1919.

3 SHEETS5HEET l- 611; 1550771 eys.

Dec. 26, 1922. 1,44%232 R. W. MUIR.

POTATO HARVESTER.

FILED APR. 7, 1919. 3 SHEEIS-SHEET 2.

2706675 WJWM% LMQZSZ.

R. W. MUIR.

POTATO HABVESTER.

Dec. 26, 1922.

3 SHEETS-S HEET 3.

FILED APR-7.1919.

r T- t r n i ROBERT W. IJZUIR, 03F HUNTER, NORTH DAKOTA.

rore'ro nnnvns'rnn.

Application filed April 7, 1919. Serial No. 287,930.

To aZZ whom may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnnr' l V. More, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hunter, in the county of Cass and State of Worth Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato Harvesters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to potato harvesters and the object is to provide a machine of this character which will lift the potatoes out of the ground, and without any manual handlin and without bruising or otherwise injuring them, will free the potatoes from vines, weeds and dirt and deliver the potatees to a wagon traveling in proximity to the harvester. Another object is to provide a machine in which the potatoes are freed from the soil which is dug up therewith by a. shaking action which varies proportionately to the amount of material which is dug up.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and the novel features embodied in my inventive idea are particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the application of my invcntion in one form,-

Fig.1. 1 is a top plan view. Fig. 2 is a JlUW mostly in long g'itudinal vertical section. Fig. 3 is a side view having one ofthe rear wheels removed. Fi is a detail plan view having the. top grate bars removed. Fig. 5 is asectional view of the delivery chute. As ShOWH in the drawings, the frame of the machine consists of longitudinally-ex tending side members or bars connected at the rear by a. transverse bar 12, while at the front the members l0 have attached thereto n1twardly inclined members 14;. To "the front of. the members 14. are attached inward l -,'inclined members 18 which. are so- (711 red toa front transverse bar 18. The rear of the frame is supported by wheels 20 secured to axle 21 journaled in the frame. lhe front of the frame is supported at its middle by a small wheel 22 rotatably mounted in the lower forked end of a rod 2 f, said rod extending slidably through a casting secured. to the bar 18. The casting is'provided with a rwardly and upwardly extend ng arm having a notched segment 30." lever 82 pivoted to the arm at as has its front end pivotally connected to the upper end of the rod 24 while its rear end is provided with a handle 36 and also the customary operating device for a pawl engageable withthe notches of the segment 30. By means of this lever and pawl operating device the height of the front end of the frame may be adjusted andthe frame thus held in any desiredposition. Secured to the inclined members 14- are vertical bars 38 in the lower ends of which are journaled disk plows e0. The upper ends of the bars 38 provided with braces 42 and scrapers id for removing soil from the plows. To the front of the frame is attached a clevis l6, and wl'iiltletrees are shown attached to this clevis, and to which horses may be attached for pulling the machine. It is obvious, however, that a tractor may be employed, if desired, for this'purpose; Each of the plows 40 digs up a row of potatoes and on account of the inclinedposit-ion of these plows, the potatoes are delivered to a shaking grate now to be described. Vertical bars 46 extend upwardly from the frame near the junction of the members 10 and 14, and these bars support a rod 48 upon which the upper ends of depending rods 50 are supported for oscil latory movement. The rods 50 extend slidably through collars 52 secured to bars 54, which constitute the side members of the frame of an upper grate. A spring 56 is interposed between each of the collars 52 and collars 58 secured to the lower ends of the rods 50 whereby the grate is yieldingly supported. To the rear ends of the frame members 54; are pivoted links 60, the upper ends of which are pivoted to arms 62 secured to the machine frame members 10.

in order-to shake the grate, pitman rods 64 are connected to the lower ends of the rods 50, the other ends of the pitnian rods being connected to crank arms 66 secured to stub shafts 68 journaled'in the frame members 10 and in brackets 70. Secured to the shafts 68 are gears 72'meshing with gears 74 secured to the axle 21. 'The frame members 54 of the grate are connected by transverse bars 76 and 7 8, and to these bars are secured a plurality of grate bars 80 extending from the front of the grate frame to the rear thereof. intermediate the bars 80 are bars 82 which extend only as far as the transverse bar 7 8. As shown in Fig. 2 the grate bars are comparatively th n and consist of lllll grate bars ,91 may also be provided.

mile

a plurality of portions'inclined upwardly and rearwardly at a slight angle, these portions being united by portions which" incline forwardly and upwardly at a steep angle.

verse bar 78 and also secured to a rear transverse bar 86. The members 84 are further supported from the side membersfitot the upper grate by tie bars 88 so that both grates will be operated in unison Between the side members 8%l-,-longitudinal grate bars 90 are "supported, and. if desired transverse The gratebars 90 are: constructed similarly to the grate bars 80 and 82- pre'viously described; and asshown .in Fig. t-the bars 90 tame. the: grate barsclose together at the front por-' are spaced apart a comparatively small dis- The upper grate is constructed with tion; while at the rear portion, which extends over the secondary grate, the bars are [spaced considerably further apart.

The rear portionoi the upper grate is provided with transverse bars 98 which prevent vines and weeds from dropping through the grate. Thegrate bars 90 deliver at the rear to a receptacle 95 having, abottom 92-inclined downwardly-.toward the middle, portion at each side. An elevator frame 94 is secured to the rearofthe'machine by. strips 96 and brace rods 98, and this frame is provided withrollers 100 and 'IOEZ-at the top andbottom respectively, over which runs an end- ;less carrier 104- provided with slats 106. The shaft of the roller 102 is provided with a sprocket wheel over which runs asprocket chain driven from a sprocket wheel 112 secured to one orthe stub shafts .68. The

lower end of the carrier 104 runs adjacent the bottom of the "receptacle 95, and the top otthe carrier delivers into a hopper 114 to which is attached a chutellG which inclines downwardly and is adapted to ;.d-ischarge into a wagonllS which may be driven ,or

pulled along in proper position "for this purpose. Horses for-pulling the wagon may be tied to rods or 121 adapted to be atis secured to the trains of the machine withshown at 128.

in reach of the handle 36., and a foot rest is The wagon 118 is provided" with an adjustable seat for a person who may throw out stones which are de- -livere'd to the wagon, and. he may also throw out potatoes into sacks l32,-which are positioned to receive small potatoes in a manner now to be described. Thechute 11-6 has a portion of its bottom providedwith screen A secondary orlower grate frame. "has side members 8 is'e'cured to the trans- AL sea-15126 for the drivermade up of parallel slat-s 134: running lengthwise and spaced the'proper distance to insure that'all of'the potatoes delivered to the, wagon will grade No. 1. The small potatoes which. fall-through the screen are delivered by a hopper" 136 to the sacks 132,.the hopper-extending out to the side of the chute 116 and; having an open portion at 138 so that the person in-the wagon may throw any out potatoes delivered to the wagoninto the hopper 136. The sacks are attached to the lowerend of the hopper and restuponv a dc-- pendingsupportl39. The delivery .endot thechute 116is provided with a-telescoping member 140, the side pieces of which are slidably supported on the side piece of the chute properby bracketmeinbers 142. pulling out or pushing in the telescoping member the position at which 'the'potatoes are, delivered into the wagon may ,bevaried.

The operation and advantages of-my invention'will be readily understood from the foregoing; description. The wheel 22 runs between two rows ofpotatoes both of which are plowed up by the inclined disk plow's {10,

the potatoes being delivered to the shaking grateybars '80 and 82, whichare setjclose enough together to preventpotatoes of any size "droppingthrough, butwhich will permit grass, short weeds and dried potato vines to fall through. "On account of the particular formation of the grate bars, the

potatoes: are: moved toward "the rear, and

on account of the shaking action of the grate dirtwill be separated from the pota:

the potatoes reach the portion of the upper separate particles moved. Th potatoes are of: dirt not already. re-

discharged from the rear en'd of thelowengrate into' the receptacle I havlng its bottom inclined toward the mid 1 .dle and: are removed from this receptacle by the endlessconveyer and delivered to the wagon. The vines and weeds-continue to the rear end of the'upper grate until they reach the deflector, from which. they are discharged. at each side of the conveyor.

On. account of the upper grate being yield- -ing l-y supported by the springs '56, it is obvious that when the grate is heavily loaded w th the material delivered thereto by the drslrplbws; the springs will be compressed.

The grate, there-forewill move downwardly towardthe ends of the rods 50 and the shale 111g" action of the. grate will be increasedin proportion to, the amount of downward movement. The potatoes are thus freed from dirt even when the grate isheavily loaded}; By providing means to which the horses the wagon may. be tied, I not only insure that the wagon shall b s correctly" I00 toes and will drop between the bars. When i positioned with relation to the harvester, but the person who would otherwise drive the horses attached to the wagon is freed so that he can pick out any stones, lumps of dirt and. cut potatoes that are delivered to the wagon.

I claim:

l. A device of the character described com prising a support, a grate mounted on said support, and means for imparting to said grate a shaking action which varies in proportion to the amount of material deposited thereon.

2. A device of the character described comprising a support, a grate mounted on said support, springs upon which said grate rests, pivoted rods with which said grate is slidably associated so that said grate may move away from the fulcrum of said rods in proportion to the amount of material carried by said grate, and means for oscillating said rods.

8Qr-i device of the character described comprising a support, a grate mounted on said su port, springs upon which the forward portion of said grate rests, rods pivotally supported above said portion of the grate, said grate having sliding connection with said rods which permits movement away from the fulcrum of said rods as the load on the grate increases, ,pitman rods attached to the lower ends of said rods,

.cra-nl: armsto which said pitman rods are attached, and means for rotating said crank arms.

4. A device of the character described comprising a support, a grate mounted on said support, the front portion of said grate being composed of grate bars relatively close together and the rear portion of said grate being composed of'grate bars relatively far apart, a second grate underneath said rear portion, said second grate being composed of grate bars relatively close together, and means for shaking both of said grates.

5. A device of the character described comprising a support, a, grate mounted on said support, the front portion of said grate being composed of longitudinal grate bars relatively close together, the rear portion of said grate being composed of longitudinal grate bars spaced relatively far apart and also being provided with a plurality of transverse bars,.a deflector located at the rear end. of said grate, a second grate underneath the rear portion of the first mentioned grate, said second grate being secured to the first mentioned grate and being composed of grate bars relatively close together, and means for shaking both of said grates.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

soennr W. Mona. 

